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Jenkins signs statement to support DACA Program

University President Fr. John Jenkins signed a statement in support of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Program on Monday, becoming one of more than 100 college and university presidents across the nation to do so.

“Fr. Jenkins was asked this morning to sign onto a statement from college and university presidents that calls for the continuation and expansion of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program,” University spokesperson Dennis Brown said in an email. “He did so immediately.”

The DACA Program was the product of an executive order by President Barack Obama and allows some undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children to gain work authorization and, in many cases, university financial aid. President-elect Donald Trump has promised to rescind DACA.

The statement, which was organized by Pomona College President David Oxtoby, says since DACA’s inception in 2012, colleges and universities have seen “the critical benefits of this program for our students, and the highly positive impacts on our institutions and communities.”

The statement calls on U.S. leaders — and leaders in the business, civic, religious and nonprofit sectors — to uphold DACA for moral and economic reasons.

“America needs talent — and these students, who have been raised and educated in the United States, are already part of our national community,” the statement said. “They represent what is best about America, and as scholars and leaders they are essential to the future.”